The invention is directed to an efficient means of depositing a sealant material into an aperture prior to the deposit and securing of a fastener into that aperture.
In many manufacturing operations where materials are fastened together with rivets, screws, bolts, etc. it is required that the fasteners are sealed to the material to prevent air, liquids, etc. from penetrating the fasteners and apertures.
The sealant can of course be done by hand just prior to inserting the fastener into the aperture. However, with high speed riveting machines and the like a manual application of sealant becomes impractical.
There are devices which attach to automatic machines and the like which in advance of depositing and setting a fastener in a an aperture deposit an amount of sealant into the aperture. These machines although somewhat successful for the purpose intended have no control over the volume of sealant deposited into the aperture which results in either an insufficient amount of sealant being deposited to seal the fastener to the material or an excess of sealant is applied resulting in waste and the requirement of unnecessary clean up of the end product. Further the state of the art sealant deposit devices require considerable cleanup after each operation prior to beginning a new operation.
One of the existing devices of the current state of the art is the model 91180D1.00 manufactured by ITC Aerospace Company.
There has been a long standing need for an efficient means for depositing a sealant into an aperture prior to a fastener being installed therein. The present invention will fill that long held need.